Tina DeLong opened Mama's Style Kitchen in downtown Ozark in January 2011. She said it's always been her dream to own a restaurant. / Jess Heugel/For the News-Leader

Ginny Young says that living in Ozark means accepting that there aren’t too many food options, besides chains and fast food. When Mama’s Style Kitchen opened last year, she was ecstatic, and it quickly became a favorite. She visits about once a week now and says everything tastes great.

Ginny's Take

“There aren’t a lot of places to eat in Ozark,” Ginny admits. Not only is Mama’s Style Kitchen convenient, but the food and service both stand out. “These people are really friendly,” she says. “They make you feel at home.”

When it was her turn to choose the meal for her bridge club group, she felt proud to bring her friends to Mama’s Style Kitchen. “The food is different than anything else around.” She’s tried many things on the menu, and she loves nearly everything. “It’s hard to make up your mind when you come,” she says. She loves the restaurant’s pizzas, because she loves the cheese they use. Plus, the cooks make their own red sauce, and that adds to the flavor.

Today, though, she sticks with her favorite Antipasto Salad ($7.95) and the lasagna ($13.95). She loves the salad, because it has huge rolls of meat and cheese. “I’ve never seen salad that has so much meat and cheese like that,” she says. “You can see how a salad could be a whole meal here.” Other antipasto salads often just have a little meat and cheese, but that’s never the case at Mama’s. She loves the tang of the dressing, too.

Mama’s Style Kitchen’s tasty cheese extends to its lasagna, too, and Ginny says there’s ample amounts of cheese, which, of course, is a must for lasagna. The huge portion takes up her entire plate. “I don’t know who could eat all this,” she says. She’s got leftovers for lunch the next day, and maybe the day after that. “I’m not going to cook for days!” she jokes.

Katie's Take

As I travel into Ozark, I realize that I’ve never even been back by where Mama’s Style Restaurant is. I can see why Ginny says it’s mostly busy during lunch, as it’s surrounded by office and commercial buildings. The simple décor has a basic Italian and Greek themed aesthetic. The place is casual, yet dressed up a bit with glass-covered tables.

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We share the Antipasto Salad, and I see what she means about the large amount of meat and cheese. The pepperoni and mozzarella taste great with the tangy dressing, and I’m pleased to see that both sit atop a bed of Romaine lettuce. Our server also gives us warm bread with a basil butter. Though I love the salad, the butter for the bread is easily my favorite part so far. Butter is great by itself, but the coolness of basil really adds something to the warm bread.

I usually don’t order things like lasagna at restaurants — I’m too scared that I’ll be disappointed with blasé flavor — so I decide on a gyro ($7.95) when Ginny tells me that Mama’s Style Kitchen makes great gyros. I grew up on gyros, and it really is hard to find decent ones in Springfield. My gyro has so much sauce that it’s coming out the end of the pita bread, and that’s a great sign. The bread is slightly toasted — probably heated up on a grill — and super soft, which is a must. Nothing ruins a gyro more than crusty, hard pita bread. I’m in love with this sandwich. I think Mama’s Style Kitchen has the best gyro I’ve tasted in 417-land.

I do taste Ginny’s lasagna. The red sauce has great flavor, and the dish is loaded with cheese. Picky lasagna eaters like me shouldn’t be disappointed at Mama’s Style Kitchen.

The Dish, the Restaurant

Tina DeLong took over the restaurant in January 2011 and named it Mama’s Style Kitchen. The restaurant there before was known for its cheesesteaks, but its owner wanted out of the business, and Tina decided to try her hand at the restaurant business. “I saw the potential,” she says. “It was always my dream to have my own restaurant.” She’s worked in restaurants since she was 16. She kept the famed Philly cheesesteak, though. “Nobody knows how to make it around here,” she says of the sandwich. Keeping the staple Philly when she took over was a must.

In addition to the Philly cheesesteaks, Tina also focuses on Italian and Greek cuisine.

For the Antipasto Salad, she always adds ample toppings, because “nobody leaves Mama’s hungry,” she says. Customers love the dressing, and though it’s not made in house, Tina says she’s hesitant to change it, because people love it.

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To give the butter its savory flavor, she adds basil, oregano, parsley and garlic. Tina tries to make most things in house, including the lasagna. “We do mainly Italian sausage in it instead of beef,” she says. The sauce is made in house, and she adds five different cheeses with the lasagna’s ricotta. She also offers a chicken alfredo lasagna that’s been popular with customers, too.

The gyro consists of a lamb-beef blend, and to keep the pita bread soft, she grills both sides with a bit of olive oil. “You get a better grill taste with olive oil,” she says. The flavors just “mesh perfectly together,” she says. “The gyros are pretty popular, too.”

Philly cheesesteaks, gyros and Italian favorites in one spot? Yep. Check out Mama’s Style Kitchen in Ozark for a variety of delicious flavors.